Asterisk
by antichthon
Summary: Once, Kuroko Tetsuya saw his friend jumping off the rooftop. KagaKuro


******AN :** _The lyric is from Milk Closet (such an addicting manga gtth)_

**Warning :** _AU. BL. Unbeta'ed. I admit my writing is very manga-like. Some things later might be surreal. Kagami having supernatural skill might be considered as 'warning' lmao_

_**Kuroko no Basuke is Fujimaki Tadatoshi's**_

* * *

.

.

.

.

.

_darkness, darkness, darkness falls _

_everyone vanishes behind the darkness' wall_

_somebody look for my hand!_

_somebody grasp for my hand!_

_._

_._

_._

_._

_._

**1.**

Enter Kagami Taiga.

Turning seventeen on this given year, he was tall, well-built second grader with penetrating gaze and permanent scowl twisting on his face. He carried a dangerous atmosphere of a lone tiger ever since he entered Seirin, so most of people didn't want to approach him, some simply ignored him, and the few braver ones were turned down by his infamous instant-killing death glare. He only said few words to people, usually 'Get lost' and something along the line, and didn't hesitate to hurt you if you were going _too_ close. He punched his classmate when the boy patted his shoulder at the very first day of highschool.

Legend said he was once a part of Mafia.

Other legend said he was a famous yankee.

.

People failed to notice, but behind his tough, hardened shell, Kagami Taiga had _been very_ aware with his rotten popularity. If you were intimidating, some nasty rumours were bound to happen, after all. Not like he cared with something as petty as social label. As long as noone invading his private bubble, he would welcome any kind of desertion.

Naturally he should feel lonely, by the obvious way people ignoring him and avoiding him, but Kagami Taiga had made a commitment to himself.

_No touching._

Ever since he turned thirteen, he made a vow to himself. He held a two-words promise close to his heart and wore it on his sleeves, hung it on the ceiling, crucified it across the stars as a reminder. Every night, silver asterisks on the sky would whisper his everlasting vow—no touching.

Because Kagami Taiga had psychometry_. _

Human touches were mnemonic device_. _Just a simple touch needed, a stroke on the skin or fingers brushing for him to trigger his psychometry. Maybe it didn't sound that bad, hell, it might sound kind of _exciting _like some kind of supernatural movies. But trust him, fictions were made up from glorified lies. This thing was giving him more headaches than excitement, especially because he couldn't control it. They came at random times with random intervals, sometimes he was prepared, mostly he wasn't. Even putting gloves on or wearing super thick jacket couldn't help.

This was ridiculous, but people said that reality was stranger than fiction, after all.

.

Sometimes, he could spend a whole month in peace.

Sometimes, his ability was beyond control.

It wasn't a gift, or even a skill. Kagami called his ability as a curse. Maybe in the previous life, he did something unforgivable and karma got him bad.

The first time he could do this, he was barely thirteen, and should he say, the first time was very traumatic. The second time didn't help either. The third too. And the fourth. Fifth. The list went on. Sometimes the memories he read were silly or embarassing, often heartbreaking and bittersweet, and for few times he would see dark, different side of a person he rather not knowing about. He didn't know why he could only see painful memories, though, probably because they held more impact than happier times.

After a lot of times experiencing humiliations and hardships and deep buried secrets which didn't even belong to him, Kagami decided that he had _enough_. He isolated himself from people with his froward attitude. Slowly, the society returned the favor and outcasted his being.

.

.

**2. **

A gentle wind strummed through cherry blossom flowers, the soft pink petals falling through the air in delicate motion of paper boats. The air brought poignant spring scent, remarking the very first day of this school year. Seirin students, old and new, gakuran and seifuku, buttons and ribbons, all gathered around the school, including Kagami Taiga.

Unlike the others, he wasn't that excited to attend the opening ceremony. Kagami bit down his yakisoba bread and walked lazily, casually avoiding any people. Right, left, left. Behind him, some first graders with brand-new uniforms were chatting to each other with such laughs and joy, each one sharing their dreams and imaginations about high school life, and Kagami grumbled. They were noisy and _high school life_ wasn't that exciting, trust him.

One of the first grader didn't pay attention to the road in front of him, and his face bumped to Kagami's toned back**.**

_(static noise)_

**.**

**.**

**.**

**.**

**.**

**.**

**.**

**.**

**.**

(everything turned psychedelic, and kagami knew he did it _again_ when he saw sepia-toned scenery stretching as far as he could see.

kagami groaned. it was beyond his intention, though, to take a peek on someone's memories. eventhough he had been doing it so many times before, it still felt as bad as the first time.

it was snowing and the cold air frosting on his nose, winter breeze seeping on the skin under the fabric. the scenery looked distantly familiar, it must be somewhere around this city.

thump thump thump.

in front of him was a girl, cute and small girl with classic button nose and pink, pouty lips. She wore very cute winter outfit with fluffy hat, her cheeks in strawberry, her eyes as rich as melting chocolate.)

"_Thank you for your letter, Furihata-kun."_

(_r-r-rika-chan! _

thump thump thump. kagami could hear heartbeats overflowing. he could feel the giddiness, flutterbies tickling up his veins. anxiousity. excitement. hopes. everything was brushed with pink and tint of yellow. messy but sweet, this sticky feeling of first love, _that boy's_ first love. he could feel teeth biting his lips, trying to ease nervousness wrecking his body with no mercy.)

"_B-but..."_

(she bowed deeply.)

"_I-I'm sorry, I like someone else already!"_

(**thump.**)

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Seconds later, he was jammed back to reality without notice. After taking a deep breath he needed, Kagami shooed away that boy with his infamous glare. He walked past that quivering first-grader without looking back.

A painful rejection. Such a way to ruin his mood. He bit down the last portion of his bread with so much force.

Kagami had decided that he didn't have enough good mood to attend the opening ceremony like a good student, so he turned around and marched toward his secret place.

.

.

**3. **

The way to the rooftop seemed shorter than it had always been. When he opened up the door to rooftop, someone was already there. It was a blue haired boy with a very big jacket and glossy headphones. The boy sat on the railing, legs dangling and swinging to the music from his headphones, mouth humming the beats a few times. Kagami could only see his back.

His lone figure was like a small dot under the stretching, endless blue sky.

Kagami blinked, somewhat taken aback by the melancholic scenery for a few seconds, before putting on stern face. With a face ready to maul someone up, he approached the boy.

"Hey."

The boy didn't notice, already lost to the music.

Kagami coughed, his voice stronger and more intimidating than before. "HEY."

The boy didn't budge.

Losing patience, bigger male turned the boy to his direction forcefully, and the boy raised his eyebrow to Kagami.

The first thing Kagami noticed about that boy was how painfully _eerie _he was. Compared to Kagami he was shorter and more slender, skin as pale as blank paper. His black, glossy headphones was pretty new and his yellow-stripped blue jacket was at least two sizes bigger, making the boy smaller than he actually was. The hood shielded his face, and Kagami could only catch a glimpse of soft blue tresses masking his eyes.

"Excuse me?" He put down his headphones.

"This is my teritorry." Kagami spat to the boy. "Go away."

The boy cocked his head.

"Rooftop is a public place." The boy talked back, his voice flat. "Unless you can show me your ownership of this building, Kagami-_senpai_."

He blinked not to the fact that the boy was brave enough to talk back, but because the boy knew Kagami's name. Like answering this confusion, the boy added, "You're pretty popular around first grader, Kagami_-senpai_. Not that kind of_ popular_, though."

Rude.

"You're supposed to attend the ceremony."

"The same with you, Kagami-_senpai._" The boy had raised his head and eerie blue eyes locked up with Kagami's fiery ones."You're supposed to attend the ceremony like a good student." His voice flat, his face flat, but his words stink with utter defiance.

"I can be wherever I want."

"Same with me."

"Leave." The taller gritted his teeth, hand fisting, the lines on his face all twisting.

"No."

"Leave!"

"No."

"I'm _here_ first."

"Well, I'm here _first_."

_Ver_y rude.

"I said," he stressed all the words one by one through his gritted teeth,"_leave_."

"Make me,_ Senpai_."

.

Kagami had a vow to himself : _No touching._

Most of the times, he crucified it on the night sky as a remainder.

Sometimes, he lost it among the stars.

He grabbed the boy's collar in a moment of anger, calloused fingers brushing on pale neck. He almost commited violence before static noise drilled up his ears.

.

_(static noise)_

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

"..."

"—_cchi."_

(oh, he did it again. he didn't have to be _that _surprised, actually.)

.

"—_urokocchi."_

(the school rooftop slowly faded into another place. it was another rooftop at the birth of blue morning, vast and empty, and a solitary shadow was sitting on the edge of rooftop, blocking the morning sun from his view.

it was a male, face half hidden under the shadow, the dawn behind him giving a glorious backlight of yellow. here, there, everywhere, the morning dew on his golden hair, soft sunray melting on top of his white blazer. he was sitting on the flimsy railing in careless gesture, so dangerous, a blow of wind and he would fall.)

"_Kurokocchi."_

(such a sad, melancholic voice. the male smiled.)

"_..."_

"_Kuroko Tetsuya."_

(he laughed joyfully like a child as he stood on the railing, his arm spreading up to the sky. a breeze fanned out his hair into beautiful halo. the dawn behind outlined his body with golden. dangerous. dangerous. he was standing too close to the edge

and there was someone screaming —)

"_Kuroko Tetsuya."_

(smile. smile. laugh like a child. _stop it_, someone plead desperately, and kagami knew it as the blue-haired boy's voice. the voice was hoarse and confused and—_ stop no no d_

"_Don't forget."_

_on't_—

_kise-kun—_)

"_Kuroko Tetsuya."_

"_I won't let you forget."_

(thump, a heartbeat passed, and

the golden-haired male fell in muted motion with brightest smile on his face, second per second, in an elegance of a single ripple on the water.

time ticked at its slowest and it was almost suffocating. couldn't breathe, couldn't breathe. kagami couldn't tear the gaze away from the body slowly falling from the edge and engulfed into the blue

sky and be gone forever

and someone

screamed—)

"—_on't forge—"_

(_KISE-KUN_!)

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

The world spinned around and Kagami fell butt first to the hard cement.

The blue-haired boy blinked at the sight of Kagami stumbling on the ground with rather ungraceful manner. This was unexpected. He didn't even push his senior.

"Sorry." he said after a thought, despite he didn't exactly mean it, and decided to walk away without any intention to help his senior up, leaving the stunned Kagami behind.

.

After the door was closed, Kagami fell back first to the ground. He closed his eyes with both of his hands and heaved deep breaths, trying to get himself in control.

Bullets of sweat milked out of pores on his forehead and thousand needles pricked on his throat. Kagami peeked between his fingers and saw the hazy spring sky hovering above him, _taunting _him, and he found himself trying too hard to keep breathing. The air was suddenly getting too thick and disgusting. It had been a long time since he was this _disturbed_.

It felt real—it_ felt_ really, really real—

.

.

.

**end of chapter one**

.

.

* * *

_is there anything i can do to make my writing less manga_


End file.
